Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Jurors Can’t Be Excluded by Nationality, Judge Says
According to The New York Times, “A federal magistrate judge has ruled that excluding prospective jurors because of their national origin is no more justified than barring them because of their race or sex.” “The judge,” according to the report, “opened a door to lawyers defending a West Indian man who argued that he had been denied justice because all five potential jurors who were West Indian were improperly excluded by the prosecution.”
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Supreme Court Limits Judges’ Sentencing Power
The New York Times reports, “The Supreme Court invalidated California’s criminal sentencing law on Monday, ruling that the 30-year-old statute gave judges authority that the Constitution places with juries.” According to the report, “The 6-to-3 decision will require the California courts to reconsider thousands of sentences as the Legislature contemplates its options for amending the statute to meet the justices’ objections.”
Friday, January 19, 2007
Justices Uphold Deporting Alien for Car Theft
According to The Washington Times, “The Supreme Court yesterday sided with the Bush administration in a case the government says could have a ‘substantial effect on the administration of immigration laws,’ ruling that a foreign national and legal U.S. resident convicted for car theft can be deported.” The report explains, “In the near-unanimous opinion, the high court overturned a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which rejected government arguments that under the 1996 Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), aliens can be deported for a category of aggravated felonies called ‘theft offenses’ for which the punishment is at least one year in prison.”
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Supreme Court Won't Hear Police Dog Case
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to consider the case of a bystander bitten by a police dog as officers tried to track down a suspect,” reports The Associated Press. The case stems from an interesting request from several police officers who asked the justices to take the case in hopes the High Court would overturn lower court rulings that police engaged in an unconstitutional seizure when police dogs bit the victim.
Court Won't Hear Eminent Domain Case
The Associated Press reports, “The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to consider a property rights case involving a redevelopment project in New York state where businessmen are fighting local government efforts to take their land.” According to the report, the case involves a group of businessmen who say the village of Port Chester, N.Y., filed a condemnation petition to acquire their property the day after the businessmen rejected the government’s demand.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Federal Judge Clears Use of Religion in Care for Veterans
“The Department of Veterans Affairs' increasing use of religion in treating ailing veterans does not violate the separation of church and state, a federal judge has ruled.” According to The Associated Press, “U.S. District Judge John Shabaz dismissed a lawsuit by the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation and defended the agency's practices in his decision Monday, saying religion can help patients heal and is legal when done on a voluntary basis.”
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Court Challenge of ID Requirement Fails
“The Supreme Court on Monday rebuffed a challenge to the federal government's policy of requiring airline passengers to show identification before they board flights, spurning arguments that the well-known but unpublished policy would lead to more secret laws,” reports USA Today. According to the report, “The question before the justices was whether travelers have sufficient notice of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) ID policy to satisfy constitutional due process of law, which typically requires a law to be published so people know how to comply with it.”
Supreme Court Refuses Case Challenging Group’s Designation as Terrorists
According to The New York Times, “The Supreme Court refused on Monday to intervene in the federal prosecution of seven Iranian refugees for providing financial support to an opposition group in Iran that the State Department has designated as a terrorist organization.” “The seven defendants,” the report explains, “who are now all United States citizens, argue that they are constitutionally entitled to challenge the validity of that designation as part of their defense.”
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Judges Uphold Law on Inmate Religion
The Associated Press reports, “In a ruling favorable to an inmate who sued after a Virginia prison denied his request for kosher meals, a federal appeals court on Friday upheld a federal law that protects the religious rights of incarcerated people.” The federal law at issue in the case is the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), which was enacted in 2000 to block any government from passing a land use regulation - such as a zoning law - that would discriminate against a religious organization and prohbit prisons from blocking prisoners from worshipping as they please.
